Amos

1These are the words of Amos. He was one of the shepherds who lived near the town of Tekoa. God showed him things about Israel. It happened when Uzziah was king of Judah. Jeroboam, the son of Joash, was king of Israel then. This was two years before the big earthquake.

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

NoteAmos was a shepherd, someone who takes care of sheep. He was not a priest or a king. God gave this ordinary man a message to tell people. Tekoa was a small town in the land of Judah. Israel and Judah were two lands side by side. Long before, they had been one country together. The earthquake was so big that people counted years from it.

2Amos said, "The LORD roars like a lion from Zion. He calls out loud from Jerusalem. The grassy fields where shepherds feed their sheep dry up. The green top of Mount Carmel turns brown and dies."

And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

NoteZion is another name for the hill where Jerusalem was built. Mount Carmel was a high hill near the sea. It was famous for green trees and thick grass. If even Carmel turns brown, everything everywhere is dry.

1This is what the Lord GOD showed me. He was getting a swarm of locusts ready. Locusts are bugs that eat up every green plant. The king had already taken his share of the hay. The new grass was just starting to grow again.

Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.

NoteAmos was a prophet. God showed him pictures in his mind, like dreams. In that land the king took part of every farmer's grass first. Farmers cut what was left after it grew back.

2The locusts ate every green plant in the land. Then I said, "Lord GOD, please forgive your people. How can Jacob's family, the people of Israel, stand up again? They are so small and weak."

And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

3So the LORD changed his mind about doing this. "It will not happen," he said.

The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.

NoteThe King James says the LORD "repented." That old word does not mean God did wrong. Here it means he changed his plan and held back.

4This is what the Lord GOD showed me. He was calling for fire to punish the land. The fire dried up the deep waters below. Then it started to burn up the land itself.

Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

NoteLong ago people pictured a huge sea deep under the ground. The King James calls it "the great deep." Amos saw fire drying up even that.

5Then I said, "Lord GOD, please stop. How can Jacob's family stand up again? They are so small and weak."

Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

6So the LORD changed his mind about doing this too. "This will not happen either," said the Lord GOD.

The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.

7This is what he showed me. The Lord was standing beside a wall that was perfectly straight. He held a plumb line in his hand. A plumb line is a string with a weight on the end. Builders use it to check if a wall is straight.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the LORD stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

NoteA plumb line is a string with a heavy weight tied on. The weight pulls the string straight down. Builders hold it beside a wall. If the wall leans, everyone can see it.

8The LORD asked me, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel. I will not let them off any longer.

And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:

9The places on the hills where Isaac's family worships will be empty. The holy places of Israel will be knocked down. I will come against King Jeroboam's family with a sword."

And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

NotePeople built places to worship on the tops of hills. The King James calls these "high places." Isaac was a grandfather of all the people of Israel. So "the house of Isaac" means the whole nation. "The house of Jeroboam" means the king and his family.

10Amaziah was the priest at Bethel, a leader who served at the worship place there. He sent a message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel. He said, "Amos is making plans against you right here in Israel. The land cannot put up with everything he says.

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

NoteBethel was a town in Israel with a famous worship place. The king paid for it, so it mattered a lot. Amaziah was the priest in charge there.

11Here is what Amos has been saying: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword. And Israel will surely be taken away from their own land as prisoners.'"

For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

NoteBeing taken captive meant enemy soldiers marched people away. They had to leave home and live in a strange country. This happened to whole nations back then.

12Amaziah also said to Amos, "Go away, you seer! Run off to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there. Do your speaking for God there.

Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

NoteA seer was another name for a prophet. It means someone who sees what God shows him. Amaziah used the word to make fun of Amos. "Eat bread there" means earn your food there. He was telling Amos to go get paid somewhere else.

13But never speak for God at Bethel again. This is the king's own worship place. This is the temple of the kingdom."

But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.

NoteThe King James calls Bethel "the king's chapel." A chapel here means a worship place, not a little church. This one belonged to the king himself.

14Then Amos answered Amaziah. He said, "I was not a prophet, someone trained to speak God's words. My father was not a prophet either. I took care of animals. I also picked figs from sycamore trees.

Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

Note"A prophet's son" did not always mean a real son. Prophets taught young men, and those students were called their sons. Amos was saying he had no training at all. Sycamore figs grow on big trees. Workers had to pinch each fig so it would ripen. It was hot, hard work for little pay.

15But the LORD took me away from following my sheep. The LORD said to me, 'Go and speak my words to my people Israel.'

And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

16So now listen to what the LORD says. You tell me, 'Do not speak against Israel. Do not say a word against Isaac's family.'

Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.

17So this is what the LORD says. 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city. Your sons and daughters will be killed by the sword. Your land will be measured out and split up. And you will die in an unclean land, far from home. Israel will surely be taken away from their own land as prisoners.'

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

NoteA prostitute is a woman men pay to use her body. It was a sad and shameful life. This is what happened to women when an army took a city. A measuring line was a long rope. Winners used it to measure captured land and split it up. "A polluted land" means a foreign country far from home.

1The Lord GOD showed me something. I saw a basket of ripe summer fruit.

Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.

NoteAmos was a prophet, someone who told people what God said. God showed him a picture, the way you see something in a dream. When you see LORD printed in big letters, it stands for God's own name.

2God asked, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A basket of ripe summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come for my people Israel. I will not let this pass by again."

And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.

NoteSummer fruit was picked at the very end of the growing season. In the language Amos spoke, the word for summer fruit sounds almost like the word for "the end." So the basket was a picture with a message inside it. Israel was the land where God's people lived. The King James says God will not "pass by them any more." To pass by something means to look past a wrong thing instead of doing anything about it.

3The Lord GOD says, "On that day the temple songs will turn into loud crying. Dead bodies will be everywhere. People will throw them out without saying a word."

And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.

NoteThe temple was the big building where people sang and prayed to God. When someone died, families sang sad songs and said kind words out loud. Here there are too many dead people for anyone to do that. The King James says they "cast them forth with silence," which means no songs and no words at all.